Super Saturday did not disappoint once more at the Gran Premio dell’Emilia-Romagna, as the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli welcomed the fourteenth qualifying shootout and sprint of 2024. Rookie Pedro Acosta matched his grid position from the San Marino Grand Prix, qualifying in 5th, while Augusto Fernandez was starting from P18. In the afternoon’s Tissot Sprint, rookie Acosta converted his grid place to a strong top 5-finish, while Fernandez closed in 20th, twenty-five seconds from the winner.

Headed directly to Q2 after his 9th place in Friday’s Practice, Pedro Acosta went to qualifying with a good boost of confidence, as we saw him take the honours of Free Practice 2 with a 1’31.4511 after thirteen laps. Joined by Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira coming from Q1, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 leader Acosta exited the pit lane for his first run behind no one but most recent race winner Marc Marquez, himself behind Enea Bastianini. His first lap set was a 1’31.517, and the next lap he clocked in an insane 1’30.731, while Marquez crashed just ahead of him in T3. That lap time sat him in third as he returned to the pit box, with Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia in 1st and 2nd. When he rejoined the track for the final time attacks, there was traffic outhere as Acosta closed a group of five riders, all following the #1. With no further improvements made in run 2 and a small mistake in his last flying lap, Acosta finished 5th, and matched his qualifying from the San Marino Grand Prix, setting himself up again for a second row start, this time between Brad Binder in 4th and Marco Bezzecchi in 6th. Lights out at 15:00 for 13 laps of craziness! From his P5, Pedro Acosta lost two positions in the first turns with Marc Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi both taking rocket starts to favorably position themselves well, ahead of the first corners. But Acosta answered Bezzecchi straight away to exit lap 1 in 6th, with Fabio Quartararo close behind. The shark was up and close in the back wheel of future teammate Brad Binder, himself following Marquez, while Jorge Martin had already made a small gap ahead, followed by Ducati duo Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini. In position to attack, Acosta got Binder on the inside of T10 to move past him smoothly, now looking ahead at a 0.8 seconds gap to Marc Marquez. Halfway through the sprint, positions had settled a bit more, and Brad Binder was becoming less of a threat for the rookie, now more than one second behind, while Marc Marquez was still one second ahead. At the front, Martin and Bagnaia were both showcasing incredible race pace, both obviously hungry for gold. On lap 10, a small mistake from the #93 earned Acosta a few hundredths, as he was now 0.7 seconds from the Gresini rider with 3 laps to go. Positions remained as they were until the end. Strong P5 finish from his 5th place on the grid for Pedro Acosta, who will look to feed from that result tomorrow on the long distance.

After fifteen laps to make final adjustments in FP2, Augusto Fernandez was quick to choose whose’ wheel to take as qualifying 1 began, and it was with no surprise that he started to work behind fellow Pierer Mobility rider Brad Binder. He set a good first lap, before improving his third lap to 1’31.722 to provisionally sit in third after the first run, while Miguel Oliveira and Joan Mir were provisionally qualified. Second exit was similar to the first one, with both Jack Miller and Brad Binder in front of Augusto Fernandez. Red sectors all over the place on the screens. Fernandez made an extra effort to go up to 1’31.554, but crashed shortly after in T3, calling it an early end for him. His time placed him 18th on the grid. At the sprint start, Augusto gained two positions thanks to a good positioning in the first corners, but he eventually dropped back to exit the opening lap in P19. The next lap, Johann Zarco moved past the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 rider, but the #37 was not able to keep contact with the LCR rider. Halfway through, Takaaki Nakagami was closing the gap on the Spaniard, while a battle ahead between Zarco and Joan Mir allowed Augusto to reduce his margin, now just 0.9 seconds from the Frenchman. Unfortunately, he lost that advantage quickly with slower lap times. A long lap penalty from Mir saw Augusto moved up to P19, but Japanese Nakagami was really close behind. Eventually, the number 30 had his move prepared on Augusto, and overtook him in the exit of the final corner. That’s a P20-finish for Fernandez who will look for a better performance on Sunday.

We are almost done with the Gran Premio dell’Emilia-Romagna, with the main show of 27 laps remaining. See you on Sunday, at 13:00 (GMT+2)!